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The call of the wailing bagpipes went out to thirty MGFs throughout
the country . The gathering of the clan would begin at Stirling in
the shadow of the famous castle. The date - Saturday 1st May 2004 -
it was time fo The Highlander 2004.
Several Fers had already arrived in Stirling for a pre run
meal in Stirling itself on Friday night but the main group met up on
the saturday morning and , surprisingly, the sun was peeping through
the clouds. It looked like a promising day and all hoods were down
(except those with the odd hardtop still in pace of course !).
After meeting and greeting each other the field were led away
from Stirling by those in the more modified and tweaked Fs - a
roar of the K series and we turned to to see the brakelights of Mike
Satur, Gerry Hiorns and Paul Weatherill disappearing into the
Highlands - not to be seen again until Glencoe ! The rest of us
followed at a more moderate pace with many drivers pausing to admire
the scenery en route. Scenery that got more breathtaking the further
north we travelled .
After a short tea break on the shores of one of many Lochs we
headed for the barren landscape of Glencoe surrounded by snow peaked
mountains. A schedule lunch stop at the Glencoe Hotel waited for us
but not before Andy Bates celebrated covering 100,000 miles in his F
with a bottle of champagne and a lone piper to provide the accompaniment.
Perhaps the piper's lament was ominous for the next day Andy's
clutch failed him on the way to Applecross and the F had to be
trailered back home.
Small groups of Fs then filtered away from Glencoe heading for
the Kyle of Lochalsh and the gateway bridge to Skye. With more
scenic views on the way, including the wistful Eileen Donan Castle rising
from the water we all made it to the Lochalsh Hotel in safety. A
fine dinner convivial evening followed before it was up early for
breakfast and planning the day ahead.
Unfortunately the skies had greyed but tops still came off as a
small group headed over the toll bridge on to the Isle of Skye
itself for a drive around the pitted and potholed roads. The rest
headed for the Applecross peninsular and some equally amazing
scenery and a fine seafood restaurant in Applecross itself. By the
time we returned from Skye and were heading up the A890 (or at least
Scotlands version of an A road - single track with passing places
and sheep) towards Ullapool following the Wester Ross Coastal Route
the rain had arrived. Reluctantly the hood went up for a wet and
showery run around the cliffs towards Ullapool.
A damp Royal Hotel hove into view overlooking Ullapool harbour
and another night of food, wine and whiskey. By this time two more
casualties had emerged - Mike Satur with gearbox problems had
to have his F trailered back to Satur HQ and Paul Weatherill managed
to burst two tyres on a pothole hidden under water - borrowing a
couple of wheels he managed to limp back home to Glasgow. Dave
Clelland thanked everyone for coming and gave out a couple of
"awards" - Mike Satur for the Maddest moment - overtaking
eight cars when he only had third gear , Terry Garlick for
unluckiest - fourth HGF a week prior to the Highlander and then his
hardtop fell from the garage roof denting his front wing and then
the car was misfiring at the start ! - Tim Morris for traveling the
furthest - all the way from Surrey. The rest of us gave Dave a
decorative bowl in thanks for organizing the whole event.
Monday morning and the skies were still grey but it was time for
us to bid farewell and head our seperate ways. Some headed straight
home whilst others spent a few more days enjoying the mountains and
Lochs of the Highlands but all of us were happy and this mammoth
tour proved that the F is all about Fun
More Photos can be found at :-
http://www.apkdesign.co.uk/photos/Highlander%20VI/
(Andy Keeling's Pics)
http://www.csmgf.dsl.pipex.com/Highlander04_Album/index.htm
(Dave Clellands pics on CSMGF site)
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